It takes a brave man to profess his directorial virginity, but Morgan Beck is fearless.

“Yeah, it’s my first time directing,” said “The Big Slam” Communication senior Beck. “But it was a lot easier than I expected.”

Beck’s directorial premiere goes up this Thursday in the Jewish Theater Ensemble’s production of Bill Corbett’s comedy “The Big Slam.”

Adding to the pressure, the first-timer’s crew is practically dominated by rookies; in the words of producer Lindsay Meck, a Communication sophomore, “We are basically a group of newbies.”

Along with Meck, set designer Kerry Bishe, a Communication junior, and stage manager Vladimir Gutman, a Weinberg freshman, also claimed little prior experience in their respective roles.

Moreover, the opening night of “The Big Slam” marks the first performance in Shanley Pavillion since Communication senior Mike Kopera was struck by a falling fluorescent light earlier this month, giving him a minor head wound. Taking the stage immediately following the venue’s two-week renovation closing, Meck confessed, is “a bit scary.”

“It was a challenge,” Beck said, “but my biggest challenge was converting a great script into an entertaining play.”

But who wouldn’t be intrigued by a scandalous storyline involving deception, romance and naked, hairy men?

“The Big Slam,” in all its absurdist glory, chronicles the misadventures of Orrin, a spineless subordinate with a hopeless crush on ambitiously seductive Stephanie, the girlfriend of his beer-guzzling, woman-recycling, haughty jackass of a best friend, also known as Russell. The hapless hero is suckered into investing a hefty $10,000 in Stephanie and Russell’s infomercial-inspired get-rich-quick scheme and, as Beck so aptly summarized, “hilarity ensues.”

And so does nudity — kind of. Russell, played by Ezekiel Sulkes, will drop trou, but not boxers, for the majority of the production. Although this is a first-time stage maneuver for the Communication sophomore, Sulkes dismissed notions of nervousness, remaining ever comical about the upcoming performance.

“Hey,” Sulkes said, “if people are paying to see it, I might as well show off my stuff.”

Surprisingly Sulkes asserted that his biggest challenge will be accurately portraying Russell’s pompousness. “I’m actually a nice guy,” he said.

Perhaps it’s best for his amicable reputation, then, that that one of Sulkes’ more gratuitous scenes — in which “Russell has fake sex with Stephanie” — was removed prior to showtime.

“It was one of my favorite scenes,” Sulkes said, “but it had to be cut.”

Alongside faux sexual frustration, the cast faces the additional challenge of memorizing several untraditional monologues. Corbett’s script allows the main character, played by Communication junior Jon Derengowski, to be both actor and narrator, alternating between cast and audience interaction. Such an extreme shift in Orrin’s on-stage persona from meek, introverted sidekick to determined, expressive center of attention, required Derengowski to spend extra time perfecting some lengthy, pseudo-nonsensical rants and raves.

“It’s not easy to be a character and narrator,” Derengowski said of his demanding role, “especially when you’re memorizing sentences that don’t contain verbs.”

While Derengowski could perfect many of his more difficult scenes during rehearsals, however, Sulkes was cursed with an illness for much of the allotted practice time, which prevented him from practicing any of Russell’s script-mandated lip-locks. But absence makes the heart grow fonder, and the actor’s love-interest, played by Nayla Wren, is getting restless.

“Zeke is a very moist young man,” laughed the Communication sophomore of her co-star’s lips. “I’m looking forward to kissing him in the show.”

Fellow castmate Dori Scallet, who plays a package handler caught in the Russell-Stephanie-Orrin love triangle, is equally enthused by the production’s upcoming premiere.

“I like my character because she’s so positive and fun to play,” said Scallet, a Communication sophomore. “Plus, I get to wear a UPS costume.”

“The Big Slam” opens today at 8 p.m. in Shanley Pavillion (with subsequent shows on Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and 11 p.m.), in what promises to be a titillating display of theatrical talent and, Beck promised, “a stage set-up completely unique to Shanley.”

As for the director’s degree of success?

“It’s sort of like when you do it with a girl for the first time,” Sulkes said of the advantages to working with a rookie. “You’re not worried about dissappointing anyone with your performance.”

Beck said he shared the love.

“It really helps to have a group of dedicated actors,” he said, “and a cast that doesn’t fight all the time.”

It appears this directorial virgin had one hell of a deflowering.4

Medill freshman Dan Macsai is a PLAY writer. He can be reached at [email protected].